Good Riddance: How do you build your case for Trustee removal?

Removing a California Trustee is never easy, but there are some things you can do to help build your case against a bad Trustee.

The following is a verbatim transcript of this video:

So we’ve talked a lot in our videos and our blogs about how difficult it can be to remove a trustee. Trustee removal is not particularly an easy thing to accomplish. You can also, if you file a removal petition, you can ask the court to temporarily suspend a trustee. But that’s not always easy either, because you’re asking the court to make a decision without all the evidence in front of the court and so you’re kind of asking the court to shoot from the hip. Sometimes you can get that, sometimes you can’t. But if you want to rid yourself of a bad trustee, there are a few things you can do to help strengthen your case. And it all comes down to what is reasonable. Remember, a trustee must always act reasonably. And so what you want to do as a beneficiary, if you have an unreasonable trustee you’re dealing with, is you want to document your attempts to work reasonably with the trustee and the trustee’s response to those attempts.

So, you have a right to reasonable information. Even if you – if it’s not time to account yet – an accounting usually happens once a year. But in between accounting periods, you still are entitled to reasonable financial information. So you ask the trustee: Can I see the bank statements? Can I see the financial statements? Can I get a copy of the closing statement, if you sold real property? Can I see the rent roles, so I can see all the rent that’s coming in on the trust property? If the trustee denies you those requests and tells you no, I’m not going to show you that, or I don’t have to show you that, or you’re never going to get that information, that would be an unreasonable response.
And so what you want to do is document every effort you made to made the request and your request can be perfectly civil and nice, you don’t have to be aggressive. You can just please, you know, let me this, that, and the other thing, bank statements, broker statements. And then you want to document the trustee’s response. And so if a trustee is being combative, aggressive, or just failing to respond to you at all, you want to write that down. And then you want to document your efforts to reach out again. Hey, I asked you for this information. I haven’t heard back or you told me no. You do have to give me this information and I want you to give it to me. And then when they come back and say no again, you write that down. You document it.

And the reason why you want to document these things is that ultimately is going to become your evidence when you go to court to try to get this trustee removed. And the more that you have that evidence documented, you can point out every instance where you tried to do something reasonable and the trustee said no, or was combative, the better your chances of getting that trustee removed. Now, obviously, it takes time. You do have to try and work with this trustee, which is unfortunate. You’re not going to be get rid of most trustees as quickly as you’d like. But, if you keep track of your efforts and you document those, write them down, then when the time comes and you can go to court, now you actually have some ammunition that you can use. Don’t hesitate to ask for good information from your trustee. You have a right to see it. You have a right to receive it. And if they refuse to give it to you, then you have a right to go to court and force them to give you the information that you deserve. And, ultimately, you will have the right to go to court and seek their removal and the more evidence you have that they’ve acted improperly, the better your chances of getting that trustee removed.

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Albertson & Davidson is here to help YOU fight for YOUR inheritance. Check out Aldavlaw.com for our complete library of helpful legal videos and articles from your favorite California Trust & Will Litigation Law Firm, Albertson & Davison, LLP.

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